We left Hilary's home in Rotorua after enjoying our stay with her and her daughter to make our way south to Lake Taupo and our ultimate destination of Turangi, where we are anticipating some hard core "tramping". However, before we get there we are making a detour to the west of the lake to stay, in the middle of what looked like nowhere on the map, at a homestay in Tihoi for a couple of days.
On the way down to Taupo we stopped off at Huka Falls, which are a set of waterfalls on the Waikato River that drains Lake Taupo. The canyon which creates these falls is about 15 metres wide so the water gushes through in a noisy torrent. This is a major tourist attraction so we weren't the only ones there!
We continued our drive to Taupo town and at a lookout we had our first glimpse in the far off distance of the three volcanic mountains we are looking to tramp around later, depending on the weather. The town has a buoyant commercial centre for tourists, as it is a winter and summer activity area, so we decided to move on quickly and headed in to the deep countryside towards Tihoi. The landscape was very rural with lovely undulating hills and the wind swirling and flowing through the long grass. Very picturesque and extremely quiet. At one point we both called out "crikey there's another car coming towards us!" as the road was empty for miles and miles.
Spotting the B&B sign for our next homestay with Craig and Cathy we trundled another 3 miles along a dirt track road passing about 6 houses/farms and just as the road ran out we spotted their gate. After a friendly welcome from everyone, including their two dogs Harri and Charlie, who had recently become parents to 6 puppies, we stopped in our tracks to catch our breathe at the most amazing 180 deg view from our room. The three mountains on one side and the lake on the other. Absolutely magical.
With tea and a nap behind us Cathy gave us info on a local walk from the end of the gate and down through a woodland towards the lake side. It was a secret walk, overgrown woodland, mossy big boulders to get over to finally descend and reach the shingle beach with the lake lapping in front of us stretching for miles! The only noise was the shoreline lapping and birdsong. An idyllic setting to end our day. Well of course we had the walk back up but we had a spring in our step.
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| Our Rotorua host Hilary with daughter Louise and their dog. A bit of a rascal! |
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| Huka Falls on the way to Taupo |
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| Our first glimpse of the mountains and Lake Taupo from afar |
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| Our Tihoi hosts Cathy and Craig with our welcome cuppa of tea |
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| View from the house on one direction, sigh.... |
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| View from the house in the other direction, more sighs... |
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| Yvonne testing out her dodgy left knee on the boulders coming back from the Lake Taupo |
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